
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, February 17, 1995                   TAG: 9502180039
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

PROBE OF BROWN IS BEGUN

The Justice Department has opened a preliminary criminal investigation of Commerce Secretary Ron Brown's personal financial dealings. Brown's attorney said he was certain the probe would find ``no violation of law.''

The decision, announced Thursday by Attorney General Janet Reno, means the department has found specific and credible allegations that Brown may have committed a federal felony.

The preliminary investigation began Wednesday. The department has 90 days from then to decide whether there is enough evidence to ask a special court to name an independent prosecutor to conduct a full criminal investigation.

The special court, acting under the independent counsel law, authorized Reno to announce the move and said only that the investigation covered ``allegations that have been widely reported by the news media.'' Neither the court nor Reno gave additional details of the inquiry.

Brown's lawyer, Reid Weingarten, called the action routine.

``The independent counsel act left Justice with no choice,'' he said. ``This is the step at which point Justice, for the first time, evaluates the allegations and receives evidence.''

Weingarten said he is confident the preliminary investigation will find that there was ``no violation of law and that there is no need for an independent prosecutor.''

At the White House, press secretary Mike McCurry said only: ``The attorney general did what attorneys general have to do.'' He declined further comment.

Brown is the second Cabinet secretary now undergoing such a preliminary investigation. The department also is looking into whether there is enough evidence to seek appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros for payments to a former mistress.

Late last month, Sen. Lauch Faircloth of North Carolina and 13 other Senate Republicans asked the department if it were looking into possible criminal violations by Brown. Faircloth has questioned whether Brown violated federal disclosure requirements for Cabinet officers and possibly evaded taxes in a series of transactions with former business partners.

Republicans have questioned how Brown received more than $400,000 from a company in which he invested no money.

Brown, a former Democratic Party chairman, has said he sold off significant amounts of his holdings in 1993 to avoid possible conflicts of interest.

by CNB